AAM Launches Screen Buzz in Amman, with the Attendance of HRH Princess Rym Ali and Stars Saba Mubarak & Nelly Kareem,in Collaboration with The Royal Film Commission-Jordan

Led by Three TV Industry Experts from Hollywood who Contribute to Sharpening the Screenwriting Skills of Local Storytellers in the Arab World

AAM Launches Screen Buzz in Amman, with the Attendance of HRH Princess Rym Ali and Stars Saba Mubarak & Nelly Kareem,in Collaboration with The Royal Film Commission-Jordan

On Sunday 29th of April, Jordan's capital, Amman, hosted the opening ceremony of the inaugural Screen Buzz workshop series, organized by AAM, in collaboration with The Royal Film Commission-Jordan (RFC). Screen Buzz, a series of creative, cinematic workshops offers the rate opportunity for selected local participants from the Arab world to learn firsthand from Hollywood experts in the fields of screenwriting, directing and producing.

The launch reception included the attendance of HRH Princess Rym Ali, Jordanian star Saba Mubarak, a member of AAM's Middle East Advisory Council, and Dr. Aaron Lobel, Founder and President of AAM, along with Egyptian star Nelly Kareem, a number of high-profile media figures and key names in the filmmaking industry in Jordan.

HRH Princess Rym Ali, Member of the Board of Commissioners at the RFC, said she was very pleased with the Commission's partnership with "Screen Buzz" and said: "I hope many storytellers will emerge from these efforts, so that the workshop's participants use their talents and don't remain passive viewers but become active content generators as well."

On the social goals driving Screen Buzz, Dr. Aaron Lobel, Founder and President of AAM, commented, "Through Screen Buzz, we work with talent and stories that have a larger purpose - to advance society in Jordan, the Arab world and the world. I believe there is tremendous opportunity to do that. We know that in the region there are an incredible number of stories to tell, and the role of our great Hollywood talent is to support and amplify those local voices."

Jordanian star Saba Mubarak expressed her excitement saying, "I'm really thrilled that Jordan is the first destination of Screen Buzz. I believe the past decade witnessed tremendous efforts made by the Royal Film Commission-Jordan and local Jordanian talents in establishing Jordan as one of the most recognized shooting locations internationally, which partially helped in prompting the local talent to the international filmmaking scene." Saba also gave thanks to HRH Princess Rym Ali for her continuous support to Jordanian talents and the TV and Film industries with the ongoing efforts exerted by the Royal Film Commission- Jordan and for their partnership with Screen Buzz in Amman.

Egyptian star Nelly Kareem exclaimed, "Screen Buzz is a great opportunity for local talents to connect with high-profile Hollywood experts, making the ultimate dream come true through the one-on-one meetings and the open discussion to help them sharpen their skills in the fields of screenwriting, acting and directing. This is an event that shouldn't be missed and I'm so glad to be part of this and that Egypt is one of the upcoming destinations for Screen Buzz." The workshop currently running in Amman is the first in a series that will be moving in a multi-city tour across the region. During 2018, Screen Buzz workshops will be dedicated to sharpening the skills of screenwriters from across the Arab world. The workshop in Amman is focusing on screenwriting for TV through offering participants the opportunity to learn from three TV industry experts from Hollywood who have already achieved global successes: Executive Producer Lindsay Goffman (The Good Doctor), Screenwriter and Producer Mark Goffman (The West Wing | Bull), and Screenwriter and Producer Daniel Knauf (Supernatural | Carnivale).

Workshops are held under the supervision of AAM's Middle East Advisory Council, which includes seven of the most prominent Arab figures in the film and TV industry: H.E. Noura Al Kaabi, UAE Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development (UAE); HRH Princess Rym Ali, Founder of the Jordan Media Institute and Board Member at the Royal Film Commission (Jordan); actress Yousra (Egypt); actress and director Nadine Labaki (Lebanon); actress and producer Saba Mubarak (Jordan); Ali Jaber, Group TV Director MBC (UAE); and actress Hend Sabry (Tunisia).

To carry out this initiative in the Arab world, AMM has joined hands with MAD Solutions and partnered with its Arab Cinema Center (ACC), organized by MAD.

Screen Buzz follows a multifaceted approach in all its group sessions and workshop activities to ensure that participants actively engage with the Hollywood talent to exchange professional ideas and experiences. Participants will also have the unique opportunity to practice in pitching their projects to the Hollywood mentors during one-on-one meetings. An essential aspect of Screen Buzz is establishing an ongoing dialogue between the participants and Hollywood mentors, which extends beyond the workshops and helps to ensure further development of the participants' projects and opportunities for potential collaboration.

About AAM: AAM champions global storytelling through the power of entertainment. Our vision is to bring together the best of Hollywood with the creative community in the Middle East to empower a new generation of storytellers in the region to produce original content that promotes positive change and shared universal values.

About RFC: The Royal Film Commission - Jordan (RFC) is a public institution, with administrative and financial autonomy, established in 2003 with a mandate to promote for and contribute to the development of an internationally competitive Jordanian audio-visual industry. The RFC organizes training workshops, screenings and provides production support services.

About MAD Solutions: MAD is the first Pan-Arab independent studio and fully integrative marketing and creative consultancy for the Arab film and Entertainment Industry. Under the umbrella of MAD Solutions, the studio is supported by fivepillars: MAD Marketing, MAD Content, MAD Distribution, MAD Culture and MAD Celebrity, which together are helping to usher in an exciting new generation of Arab filmmakers and entertainment talent.

MAD Solutions attends at least 20 film festivals (Arab and International), summits, and workshops annually including Cannes, Berlinale, ADFF, DIFF, and many more. Besides its energetic, contemporary approaches to collaborating with their MAD partners, MAD Solutions prides itself on having the most extensive and up-to-date database on the Arab film industry, spanning over 20 years of a rich heritage that is still growing to this day, despite the political and socio-economic challenges.

Realizing the potential growth of the film industry in the Gulf States, and the opportunities to hatch a pan-regional strategy, MAD Solutions has expanded to Abu Dhabi, UAE, focusing on the GCC in specific and the Arab world as a whole. Based in twofour54, this has allowed MAD Solutions to become industry partners with the free zone media hub, the incubator of creativity of talent in the region. Twofour54's vision is to enable the development of world class Arabic media and entertainment content, by Arabs for Arabs, which is in tandem with MAD Solution's mission and vision.